ymm123

Im looking into moving to San Diego. I was wondering if anyone has any experience or knows anything about Rady Children's NICU and if its a nice working environment. I am in love with children's hospitals so I'd want to be there. I hear they're going through some management changes too. Any info would be nice. Environment/pay scale/nurse satisfaction, anything you know about. I have an interview this week. Thanks!!

I got some info in the mail about a joint OB neonatal conference in vegas held by contemporary forums. Has anyone ever been to a conference held by them? Heard anything good/bad? Im super interested in the preconference neo-pathology and wanted to get opinions before I set things in stone.- thanks

Its for a NICU

interesting, not sure what you'd be doing. The only thing volunteers can do in our unit is hold our intermediate care babies. We actually call them cuddlers so not sure what you'd be doing. But it might be a nice way to get to know the unit and let them get to know you.

Recently while looking at some job postings I came across a job for a relief nurse to work 2 days bi-weekly. What exactly does this entail as a position? Is it the same thing as the normal break nurses we can have on units to cover while someone is at break or is it just extra staff like per diem work? Thanks for the help!

You want to work at lucile packard, here is my suggestion. One keep an eye on the deadline and apply early. Packards deadline is usually 2 months prior to december and may graduations. Also, Im not sure which school your at in SF but try and get clinical there. Make good connections with your teachers so that they will want to advocate for you. I went to USF and we got to pick our top 3 choices of what we'd like as our final semester preceptorship and theyd try to get it. If your school has something like that, gun for packard. Also getting a job as a CNA or HUC there is a brilliant idea. Charge nurses and managers will know you and your work ethic. One of my roomates became a CNA at the hospital she wanted to work at, got to know people and because she knew the floor she was given her final precptorship on the floor. They then offered her a job half way through her last semester and she happily accepted.

You are in picu and like hearts. Dont listen to the experience doesnt matter, lots of new grad programs in the area for ER, or ICUs will say they prefer or will only hire grads with experience in those areas. Meaning you spent your last semester preceptorship or had an externship in the area. The fact that you've spent time in a PICU and an ER will help. Also even though your not moving until after you graduate, look up the new grad programs and apply. You did say you like pediatric hearts and UCSF has a specialty unit for that. Its the only one in the area I know about and has slots in the new grad program. If you like peds the only other two places that have specialty child hospitals besides UCSF are childrens oakland and stanford's lucile packard in palo alto. Everywhere else just has a peds floor, I wanted to work in a child centered facility which made job searching a bit tougher. Peds just isnt the same to me in adult hospitals. Look around now for jobs, if its a new grad program id apply now if you can or even just get in touch with the nurse recruiters. Apply early and make contacts so they have a personality to match with your qualifications. Know all new grad program deadline dates. They should be up now. And get a feel for how jobs are posted at hospitals who dont have new grad programs and just hire continuously. You can also call and make contact with the recruiters. If you and your husband go house hunting between now and then, Id make an appointment and meet the recruiters and ask for a hospital tour so you can get a feel for where you like better and can make better connections with the people who will be getting your resume.

Our hospital has a policy where if your giving something in a sryinge, the given volume in the syringe has to be greater or equal to 20% of the syringe's capacity. I think its for accuracy purposes. So because of this we always first have to draw up 0.2 mls in our TB syringe. Dilute that to 1 ml and waste whatever the extra would be. Hopefully its not less than 0.2mls because then we'd have to dilute again. I did the numbers out with your 2mg/ml concentration of morphine for our way and ended up with 0.625 mls to get 0.05mgs. But my math could be off and i'm pretty sure our on hand is 1mg/ml so we dont get too many wacky numbers when we dilute morphine. With the 2:1 concentration you have to dilute twice for this method.

Thanks for the advice. I ended up getting some dansko professionals. the only problem is they are hurting my feet. Ive warn them on 2 different 12 hour shifts. At different times of course. I know shoes like this may need to brake in buttt Im starting to worry. My arches toward my heel feel bruised. The second shift the leather loosened so the top of my foot feels a lot better. But the arch thing is disheartening. Im not sure why, maybe the other shoes messed up my feet a little and they have to recover, maybe my arches arent as high as I always thought. Has anyone else had problems breaking in their danskos?

Hi guys, I tried to search the forum for some answers but couldnt find much about high arches. At the moment i have croc professionals. Theyre alright but I just finished my first 3 consecutive 12 hour shifts and my heels were not happy. I have realtively high arches and have always bought special insoles for my tennis shoes. Im thinking this may have something to do with it. (first time ive felt only my heals hurt though) Ive seen that some ppl recommend the croc specialist for more arch support but im really open to try anything. I just want to feel more arch support and hopefully get rid of this heal pain. Only thing is I really liked the fact that the crocs were light because my feet tend to get exteremly hot during my shifts. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. THnaks!

I lived in the area and unfortunatly didnt look for jobs too much before i graduated. So i ended up taking my RN first. It took off a lot of stress. But call all the hospitals you want, your probably looking at Kaiser, Alta Bates, CPMC, and places like those? Call them, find out about new grad programs, if its better to have your RN first, and if they even hire new grads into L&D. (i think most do depending on if they have training time) But give the hospitals you want to work at a call and see where they stand from the hiring standponit.

fear not! I graduate last December and recently went through the same feelings. Not sure what area of Cali your looking for a job in, but CA's job market is a bit different than a lot of states. And if your in an area that there are lots of nursing schools and you want your specialty what Id do is this: - look everywhere and talk to nurse recruiters at places you want to work, ask if they hire new grads with IPs. (make sure you actually talk to someone, this at least gives them some glimpse of who you are) -find out application deadlines. If they have continuous hiring or just new grad programs. -Be aware that depending on your area, some hospitals don't hire people with IPs anymore. Or may hire you but by day one of orientation you must have your RN. Now I'm not sure what is more nerve racking, getting your RN and feeling like you're not getting any response and you'll never get a job or having a job and knowing you'll get kicked out of your program if you don't pass (a bunch of my friends were in that situation, they all passed though) However, Worrying about getting a job was stressing me out so much that I let it go and decided to focus the job hunt after I had gotten my RN since so many people in CA mentioned that once I got it, it would be easier to get a job. If the places you want to work don't have programs that accept applications until later this year, go ahead and breathe and focus on your NCLEX. If you find a job that you'd love and you should apply now. Apply now. Spend a few days collecting information on any job you'd like to have and figure out your timeline. You'll feel a little bit more in control. Also try to stick to the early side of your timeline for applications. Some new grad programs hire people continuously during the application acceptance dates. PS don't forget to keep track of what you've found out. It's annoying to have to re-look things up. So when you find a hospital you like, keep track of the name, its phone number, who you've talked to, what you like, what you don't, and any other info about it. This will help you keep the hospitals straight. Before I got my job I can't tell you how much time I spent relooking up info before I wised up and started keeping track. hope that helps. sorry its so long

It depends on what area you want to work in the hospital. I had my med/surg rotation at sf general. From the inside it has a dingy-er feeling than I like from hospitals (but I went the peds route so I like bright cheery looking hospitals.) Although it's the only hospital I've been in that while walking to my car I felt the need to go home and shower. But it's definitely a good place to learn and I had some pretty awesome pts. It is the trauma center of the area if I'm remembering correctly, and they are also a teaching hospital. UCSF med students have rotations there as well as a myriad of nursing students from schools all over the bay area. So especially if you're in a med/surg area be ready to deal with students. I know a Midwife at general and she's awesome, and the word is their birth center has a good reputation. They have a good handful of midwives there :), as UCSFs program teaches there. One thing I know is that their birth center is the place where many HIV positive mothers are sent due to their ability to help decrease chances of transmission at birth. The hospital is a great place to work if your looking to work at a trauma center or work for underserved populations. Its located in the mission district, and being in SF if you speak a Chinese language or Spanish it would help you a lot. I believe they work on 8 hour shifts. To live Id stay away from these neighborhoods Bayview/hunters point, the tenderloin, and the mission. Some people after living in the area for a while might find an area in or near the tenderloin or mission that they like but I just visit places I like in the mission and see the tenderloin on my way downtown. I've lived in the Richmond district and liked it. Also there's sunset and a whole bunch of others. Just keep in mind the cost of living out in the bay area is among the highest in the country. Look around on the forum and you'll see other advice before moving out to the area.

I find i like the patient mix best in a childrens hospital. Therefore in the bay area you really have 3 options, packard, ucsf, and childrens oakland. Childrens oakland had some NICU positions not long ago, but they hired within house. I like their patient population. UCSF has a great cardiac icu for babies you might wanna check out. I think you apply now and the program starts this july or june. As for housing, Im not sure where you're coming from but incase a million people havent told you already, yes the income is higher but the cost of living is also higher. As for new grad roomates, youd probably meet some in orientation or possibly on craigslist. But thats a gamble. I ended up moving to Central California because I fell in love with the childrens hospital out here (which happens to have some affiliations/shared doctors with packard). I start shifts soon so hopefully I will still be in love after my first week. lol. But good luck.

What kind of staffing ratios do you have? I thought the ratios in my area were mandated nation wide, but maybe its just a California thing.